UIC Law Review Volume 31 Issue 3 Article 13 Spring 1998 The Execution under Oath of U.S. Litigation Documents: Must Signatures Be Authenticated, 31 J. Marshall L. Rev. 927 (1998) Thomas W. Tobin Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.uic.edu/lawreview Part of the Civil Procedure Commons, Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Courts Commons, International Law Commons, Litigation Commons, and the State and Local Government Law Commons Recommended Citation Thomas W. Tobin, The Execution under Oath of U.S. Litigation Documents: Must Signatures Be Authenticated, 31 J. Marshall L. Rev. 927 (1998) https://repository.law.uic.edu/lawreview/vol31/iss3/13 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by UIC Law Open Access Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in UIC Law Review by an authorized administrator of UIC Law Open Access Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE EXECUTION "UNDER OATH" OF U.S. LITIGATION DOCUMENTS: MUST SIGNATURES BE AUTHENTICATED? THOMAS W. TOBIN* INTRODUCTION United States federal and state rules of civil procedure require many litigation documents to be executed "under oath," often lead- ing attorneys to the conclusion that signatures must be authenti- cated by a notary public or, if a client is outside the country, a for- eign notary or U.S. consular official. Attorneys often forward these documents to foreign clients passing along the requirement for an authenticated signature without considering the time and expense of obtaining a notarization in a foreign country and/or the inconven- ience of a visit to a U.S.